Alison Owen

Producer

ALISON OWEN, one of the UK’s leading film and television producers, earned an Academy Award® nomination and a BAFTA Award (Best Film) in 1998 for Shekhar Kapur’s historical drama, Elizabeth, which collected a total of seven Academy Awards® and twelve BAFTA nominations. She worked closely with co-producer Debra Hayward, formerly Head of Film at Working Title Films, with whom she launched a new production outfit Monumental Pictures in late 2014. ITV Studios Global Entertainment hold a minority stake in the company’s television sector, exclusively distributing all of the company’s television content.

Monumental Television recently released Harlots, an eight-part returning series for ITV Encore and Hulu starring Samantha Morton, Lesley Manville and Jessica Brown Findlay, and created by Moira Buffini and Alison Newman. The series is set against the backdrop of 18th century Georgian London and is a powerful family drama offering a brand new take on the city’s most valuable commercial activity – sex. Another recent release is Will, a ten-part series for TNT. Penned by Craig Pearce and executive produced by Owen, Hayward, Pearce and Shekhar Kapur, the series follows the young Will Shakespeare as he makes a name for himself in Elizabethan England. Owen and Hayward are also executive producing Anne, Breaking Bad alumni Moira Walley-Beckett’s adaptation of Anne of Green Gables, an eight-part series produced by Northwood Entertainment for CBC, in association with Monumental. Netflix recently picked up streaming rights.

Most recently, Owen produced Me Before You in 2016 for MGM, directed by Thea Sharrock and starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin which made over $200 million worldwide. Due for release in 2017 is Deborah Moggach’s bestselling historical romance Tulip Fever, adapted by Tom Stoppard, directed by Justin Chadwick and starring Christoph Waltz, Alicia Vikander, Dane DeHaan and Judi Dench. Last year, Owen produced Suffragette written by Abi Morgan, directed by Sarah Gavron, with Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson and Meryl Streep starring in an ensemble piece about the Suffragette movement.

Under her previous banner, Ruby Film and Television, Owen executive produced Stephen Poliakoff’s Dancing on the Edge, an original series for the BBC and Starz, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthew Goode, John Goodman and Jacqueline Bisset (Golden Globe® winner for the show); and the detective show Case Histories for the BBC and Masterpiece, starring Jason Isaacs that ran for two series.

Owen also executive produced the Emmy®-winning Temple Grandin, HBO’s inspiring true-life drama starring Claire Danes, David Strathairn, Julia Ormond and Catherine O’Hara, which picked up fifteen Emmy® nominations and seven Emmy® awards, including Outstanding Made for Television Movie, Outstanding Lead Actress and Outstanding Directing; Toast, a single film for the BBC, starring Freddie Highmore and Helena Bonham Carter which premiered internationally at the Berlin Film Festival; and Small Island, a period drama made for the BBC and Masterpiece, for which she picked up an International Emmy®.

Owen executive produced Phillip Noyce’s The Giver in 2014, based on Lois Lowry’s bestseller with Jeff Bridges, Brenton Thwaites and Meryl Streep starring and in 2013 produced Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks, written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith, directed by John Lee Hancock and starring Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson and Colin Farrell, which explored the tempestuous relationship between author PL Travers and Walt Disney during the making of Mary Poppins.

She also executive produced Edgar Wright’s acclaimed zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead, a major critical and commercial success, and The Men Who Stare at Goats, starring George Clooney, Kevin Spacey and Ewan McGregor; Steve Barron’s Rat, starring Pete Postlethwaite; Menhaj Huda’s Is Harry on the Boat?; and Philippa Collie-Cousins’ Happy Now?.

Earlier producer credits include the Working Title Film productions of Paul Weiland’s Roseanna’s Grave, Danny Cannon’s The Young Americans, starring Harvey Keitel and Viggo Mortenson, David Anspaugh’s Moonlight and Valentino starring Whoopi Goldberg, Kathleen Turner and Paltrow, and her first feature, Peter Chelsom’s Irish comedy, Hear My Song, which earned Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations and was chosen Best Comedy Film at the 1991 UK Comedy Awards. The film earned Owen a nomination as Most Promising New Producer from the Producers Guild of America.

Buy a ticket to the LSF

The London Screenwriters' Festival is owned and operated by London Creative Festivals Limited, Ealing Studios, Ealing Green, London W5 5EP

Terms and conditions

If you need to cancel your ticket purchase you can get a full refund up until 30 days prior to the first event. After that we cannot offer refunds but we can offer a ‘rollover’ of your pass to the following year. You can only ‘rollover’ if you notify us of your non attendance BEFORE the festival. Refunds will be paid back promptly although we reserve the right to charge up to a 10% admin fee in some cases. In some circumstances, refunds may take place after the event due to staff workload. We aim to be prompt but it could take up to 30 days to process. Alternatively, tickets are transferable to other people if you can find someone to replace you and we are happy to change the name on the ticket. Please allow 48 hours for a change of name on the pass to take place. We reserve the right to decline admission and offer a full refund at our discretion. We reserve the right to change the venue and dates of the event. Tickets rolled over from a previous year(s) or event(s) are not eligible for a refund. We reserve the right to cancel the event and offer a full refund.

Speaker and session disclaimer

The London Screenwriters' Festival sets out to secure agreements from each speaker and workshop leader prior to announcing their involvement and commitment to appear. However, one or more speakers may be unable to appear or may not arrive at their scheduled time for any number of reasons. The Festival cannot be responsible if a speaker does not appear as scheduled. Additionally, the London Screenwriters' Festival sessions and workshops may be cancelled or rescheduled at any time; and the London Screenwriters' Festival retains the right to change the content of any session at any time.